I feed in the morning (between 9-11) and at night (between 4-6). If we have had a busier-than-usual day, then I might give them 1/2 a cup or so around 1 or 2 o'clock. That's rare though... that's usually only if it's been a day of hiking or swimming.

i guess this may sound odd compared to some of the other posts, but Luna has a bowl of kibble available at all times that she is out of her crate... and she gets 1 can (medium size) each night... she doesn't over-eat her kibble... usually just a bite or two at a time... altho she cleans her plate for each can of food !

Casey's schedule will be 8:00 am and 6:00 pm He is ribby, so he will be getting an extra cup a day until he puts on a few pounds. Otherwise, he will be at 2-2 1/2 cups a day depending on his weight maintenance.

chewalotopus wrote:dogs digest kibble in 4-6 hours - I can't understand how anyone could feed just once or even twice a day! I know that's what they recommend on the bag - but I think it's ridiculous!

I feed all of my dogs (which are 5 months, 8.5 months and 1 year old) three times a day - at 7:30am, 3:30pm and 10:00pm.

I digest food faster than that and work heavy manual labor. I am lucky if I actually eat twice a day. if I eat a light lunch for the heat I will be shaking so bad from the blood sugar drop in 2 hours that I look like I have Parkinsons. They'll live and the mutts aren't getting skinny. They eat before me.

I feed twice a day partly because it helps reduce incidence of bloat, and partly just because my dogs are always hungry. I don't find that it matters in terms of training with treats (which I do), as they will always work for food, whether they've just eaten or not!

Due to my obnoxious work schedule, my dogs aren't on a real set schedule for meals. Their breakfast usually comes anytime between about 4-10 AM, and their dinner is usually sometime between 4-10 PM.

Kyton88 wrote:Thanks for your input everyone. I'll probably go with the morning and evening schedule, but I do have a few things to consider:

1. Do the amounts of food and/or frequency play a role in grass stains (I know it's a protene buildup in the urine, so just thinking out loud here)?

2. Stool sizes and frequency (trying to keep that down to a minimum).

3. How do wolves/coyotes/dingos eat? I mean, surely they don't get 4 square meals a day :-)

I little over the top I know, but my dog needs to gain wait while I try to keep a little of my prized yard intact :-)

As a young pup they should eat no less than twice per day. As to the grass stains, my dogs used to kill the grass in my yard all the time. It comes and goes. Sometimes they will stain the grass, sometimes they won't.

Obviously wild animals eat when they can and that isn't much since they actually bring down prey one out of every 30-40 tries. They can go days without eating. Nature has given them the ability to deal with this.

Adult dogs should get at least one meal per day.

Talk to your lawncare specialist at the garden store, they should be able to help you deal with the urine killing or staining the grass.

little over the top I know, but my dog needs to gain wait while I try to keep a little of my prized yard intact :-)

I've tried all that stuff you can buy for the grass. Don't waste your money, none of it works (no matter what the experts tell you). THere are a couple things you can do.

Encourage your dog to drink lots of water. You can also put a bit of water in with their kibble, it helps.

Follow them around with a watering can and immediately dilute their pee with water (this is pretty anal, but it's what I do, and it works! I just keep an always full 2 gallon watering can on the deck)

Pick one spot of your yard you don't mind burning up, and train them to use it there, and only there.

Females seem to burn the grass more than males. Males mark on things, and this makes the area where they pee on the grass less concentrated. The first pee of the morning is usually the strongest, so if you don't dilute at any other time, do that one. You need about 3 times as much water as they pee to effectively dilute it. I have a neighbor that says his dogs have never burned his grass up (he has a beautiful lawn) and he has two males.